The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1887-10-21
Friday, Oct. Fl, 1887.
The Public Roads.


people have tackled this knot
ty problem, but none have reached q
solution. The Cecil Farm
ers' Club have assigned the subject for
its next meeting when the members
have been notified to be ready with all
the information they can command to
deal with the subject and advise how
it shall be disposed of in future.
All appear to be agreed in one point
which is that the present law is alto
gether impractical. In theory it ap-
pears to have the elements of success
in its details but practical test has
proven that the County Commission
ers are not able to operate the machin-
cry so as to give the law the beneficial
effect its trainers had hoped for. Many
plans and shifts have been tried to
manage the public roads through
our County Commissioners, and every
attempt has proven an utter failure,
and we believe that we are warranted
in writing it down here that all future
attempts through the same medium
will prove still more dismal failures
than any in the past. All are of one
mind on one other point, i. e, that
immense sums of money are expended
on the roads, which bring no perma-
nent improvement; that scarce yes
tige can be found of the work done the
preceding year. 1t is all temporary,
vanishing like the winter SHOWS. The
term Of office OF our County Commlss-
toner's is too short to permit any board
to take a firm hold of the subject.
When they have begun to become IA
miliar with the large amount of busi-
ness which passes through the office,
their brief day of power is ended, a
new board Is installed which as soon
as the members begin to fairly COM
prehend the details of the business, are
ordered to move on by the next bi-en.
NAL election. This defect in our county
govern ment should be remedied by
the next legislature, and the official
life of a County Commissioner be
heightened out to 6 years in place Of 2,
by dropping one member of the board
every two years and electing one new
member. This system was inaugural
ed once, but was defeated by a new
constitution which was formed for the
state by which the law was changed
and relegated back to the old political
machine, used by politicians to work
the elections and the taxes with.
Many in despair are for going back
to the old, imperfect methods of car
ing for the roads which were in vogue
80 years and more ago. In those prim'
tive days the County Commissioners
did hold the supervisors somewhat In
check, until a case or two was brought
before the Circuit Court on the COM
plant of parties charging that certain
roads weren It in q safe condition. The
supervisor plead that he had expended
all the funds allowed him by the
County Commissioners. The court
decided that it was the supervisors
duty to mend the road so as to make
travel safe. and the County Commiss-
toner's should pay the bill without re-
gard to their previous appropriation.
Az soon as this fact was known the
supervisors snapped their fingers in
the faces of the County Commissioners
and many of them brought in sworn
accounts amounting to hundreds of
dollars where before but tens had been
expended.
The road laws since then have been
altered and new laws tried. the last
two laws authorized the sale of the
roads; but the commissioners always
failed to carry out these laws in the
spirit and intent of the law, the ma
ehinery apparently being to compli-
Gated to be managed by them in their
brief tenure of Office. 1t Is charged
that road officials have grown rich by
peculation under these latter laws, a
charge that appears to have some
foundation of truth in it. AT any rate
the present board Of Commissioners
came to the conclusion that in pref
erence to risking further robbery OF
the tax payers under the present law
that they would keep the money in
the treasury rather than have it squand
cred as large sums had been under a
law which was overridden by the road
officers, or those among them who had
no scruples about defying it.
Under the circumstances it is plain
that something has got to be done. "
Some hope for a remedy to existing
evils in the choice of ADLER men to ad-
minister the county government. This
may or may not be, but 1t is fair to
presume that taking one term with
the average will be about the